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Mlozgá
General information Mlozgá /mɫɔzɡaː/ is spoken by approximately 300,000 people in the southernmost portion of the Aralát Island chain on the planet Ejnül, ca. 10,000 CE. For centuries it experienced a decline in speakers, losing out to the more influential Yékis language spoken to the north. However, Mlozgá has started to make something of a comeback in the past few decades, and there is reason to be optimistic about this language's future. Phonology Consonants ʔ is an occasional realization of /ʁ/. /ʝ/ and /ɣ/ are dialectal. In the standard language, /ʝ/ has merged with /j/, and /ɣ/ has shifted to /ʁ/. /m/, /n/, /ɲ/, /ŋ/, /r̥/, /r/, /l/, and /ɫ/ can all function as syllabic nuclei in their own right. Vowels diphthongs: /ɛi̯/ /ou̯/ /æɛ̯/ /ɑɔ̯/ /i̯ɛ/ /u̯ɔ/ /øʏ̯/ Alphabet and Orthography The alphabet is as follows: Aa Áá Bb Cc Čč Dd Ďď Ee Éé Ëë Ff Gg Hh Ii Íí Jj Kk Ll Ľľ Mm Nn Ňň Oo Óó Öö Pp (Qq) Rr Řř Ss Šš Śś Tt Ťť Uu Úú Vv (Ww) (Xx) Yy Ýý Zz Žž Źź Q, w, and x occur only in words of foreign origin. The following digraphs are also utilized: ch, dz, dž, gh, ng. Orthography: a - /a/ á - /a:/ b - /b/ c - /ts͡/ č - /tʃ͡/ d - /d/ ď - /ɟ/ e - /ɛ/, ə (ə in unstressed syllables) é - /ɛ:/ ë - /e/ f - /f/ g - /g/ h - /h/ i - /i/ í - /i:/ j - /j/ k - /k/ l - /ɫ/ ľ - /l/ m - /m/ n - /n/ ň - /ɲ/ o - /ɔ/ ó - /ɔ:/ ö - /o/ p - /p/ r - /r/ ř - /r̥/ s - /s/ š - /ʃ/ ś - /ç/ t - /t/ ť - /c/ u - /u/ ú - /u:/ v - /v/ y - /ʉ/ ý - /øʏ̯/ (Historically this represented a long /ʉ:/, which has since become diphthongized) z - /z/ ž - /ʒ/ ź - /j/ (Historically this represented an independent phoneme /ʝ/, and is still pronounced as such in some dialects) Digraphs: ch - /x/ dz - /dz͡/ dž - /dʒ͡/ gh - /ʁ/ (occasionally realized as a glottal stop. Historically though, this digraph represented /ɣ/, and is still pronounced in this manner in some dialects) ng - /ŋ/ Representation of diphthongs: ei - /ɛi̯/ ou - /ou̯/ ae - /æɛ̯/ ao - /ɑɔ̯/ ie - /i̯ɛ/ uo - /u̯ɔ/ ý - /øʏ̯/ (also see ý above) Phonotactics Grammar Nouns There are 8 grammatical cases: nominative, accusative, dative, benefactive, genitive, instrumental, locative, lative. Nouns decline for two numbers: singular and plural. Each noun belongs to one of five noun classes (aka genders): 1. Animate, 2. Plants, 3. Wind/Water/Meteorological phenomena, 4. Inanimate Static (e.g. rock), 5. Miscellaneous. There are seven declensions: animate (vowel stem), animate (consonant stem), plants (vowel stem), wind etc. (vowel stem), static (vowel stem), miscellaneous (vowel stem), and general inanimate (consonant stems). Verbs Verbs conjugate for person/ number/ noun class of the subject, person/ number/ noun class of the direct object (if transitive with animate subject), tense (present, past, perfect, pluperfect), voice (active, passive), mood (indicative, subjunctive, imperative). There is no construction for continuous action. Aspect may be indicated by means of adverbs. Syntax Vocabulary Ngafe ˈŋafə - person (noun class 1; 1st declension) Example text Category:Languages Category:Alien languages